So, today I finally joined the ranks of millions and millions of Android users, meaning I now have access to three of the major mobile platforms (Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 7). I am, however, a complete Android noob, and I'm suspecting there will be many more Android noobs in the years to come - among OSNews readers as well. Hence, I figured this might be as good a time as any for an OSNews Asks item: Android all the things! Okay, technically that's not a question, but these are: what are the best Android applications? The most useful widgets? The most beautiful themes? Should you root your Android device? Is there any reason to add the Amazon App Store? Are there any tweaks to improve the Android experience? And so on.

1) Launcher pro, unless they didn't mess with the default launcher, then you are fine (I used it to get rid of most of Motoblur)
2) Llama, time/location/connection aware settings and profiles. Very cool. It turns on or off wifi depending on whether I am near home, switches on bluetooth when I leave work, etc.
3) K9-Mail, great IMAP client, handles SSL and everything.
4) Dolphin HD, because it is the best browser on the platform.

As for root, I did, but just to remove a really annoying pre-installed application that wanted to translate every app to Arabic (I am in the USA, but my phone was originally destined for UAE before my carrier bought it.) The Amazon store is worth it for the free apps, sometimes they have a cool game.